One of the world's most famous marketing campaigns for horse racing was done by the New York Racing Association (NYRA) of USA some years ago. The glitzy television commercials were targeted at teenagers, and the catch line was "Go baby, Go!" Well, that's exactly what some eminent lawyers are telling the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) who believed the sport of horse racing, already reeling under many serious issues including a near-bankruptcy, had received the final nail in its coffin with the 28% GST slapped from July 1.

Vivek Jain, chairman of RWITC, who had met finance minister Arun Jaitley, had already thrown in the towel when he painted a very grim picture of the GST consequences to his colleagues in Mumbai, and also to all the chairmen of the Turf Authority of India (TAI), the apex body of all Indian turf clubs. However, most of them did not agree with Jain's view, and sought legal opinion from at least a dozen top lawyers from across the country. Interestingly, all of them, with one exception, held that the GST would not be applicable on all of betting, but only on the commission the race clubs earn from betting.